Weight and Racing
Friday, March 11, 2011 at 7:00AM 
Anybody who's been running for a significant amount of time will tell you that racing is not the way to lose weight. You have to race because you love it. Racing for the wrong reasons is a prescription for frustration, burnout, and quitting.
The flip side of this coin is that when I'm over my prime racing weight, even by five pounds, my time suffers. Every pound that I'm over racing weight is a pound that I have to move - over 5, 10, 13, or even 26.2 miles. The extra pounds weigh down my knees, my form suffers, I can't feel the light, seamless wind move around my body, I feel sluggish, and it even effects my breathing. This year, I want to finish the Chicago Marathon in 5hr or less, and getting the extra pounds off will help me achieve that goal.
Right now, I am over my prime racing weight by ten pounds. In 2009, I ran the White Rock marathon at 136lbs, which was tough. At the moment, I'm at 140lbs. My prime is 130lbs or less. If I can get under 130, that would be great, but... I'm not sure my body can get there at my advanced age of 32. ;)
So what am I doing to achieve this? Well, the truth is, I'm kind of trying to feel things out. I've been on Weight Watchers for years (I'm a lifer!), and the new points program is killing me. I've only lost three pounds in two months. I really, really hate it. I don't know what I'm doing wrong, but... it's something. I wish they wouldn't have changed it, because the old way worked just fine, and it was healthy. One thing I am going to try is eating big bowls of greens. I tend to mix carbs, protein, and produce into my meals, but I think that I should try upping my intake of orange and green produce.
I am also hoping that since I just kicked out of off-season leisure and into season training, that my workouts are going to trim off a few pounds. I only use processed sports nutrition on superlong runs; therwise I kick it with my trusty pre-run bananas.
I'm working my way through getting off these pounds. Losing weight while training is tricky - it's not like normal weight loss. Healthy nutrition is crucial to good workouts, and there are certain superfoods that can make your workout or race (like bananas!) You can't just eat less - When I was new to running, I did it for all the wrong reasons (as a weight loss plan!), and I tried the whole normal "diet" + racing. I was miserable. My workouts sucked. It's about finding the right foods that give me energy and strength, without adding bulk.
As of today, I'm 140 lbs - let's see where I'm at in a few months!
Running, Triathlons, Weight Watchers
Reader Comments (8)
You could throw some interval workouts in to your typical weekly work-out schedule, those are supposed to increase your metabolism and therefore help with weight loss! Can't wait for the Chi-Town Marathon!
I am right there with you! I am 136 and hoping to get down to 130 for my racing weight (the lowest I've been has been 132) but I know that with dedication I can get down to sub 130. However, it is SO HARD when training to eat less without compromising your training and recovery. I'm very interested to hear what you eat and how you manage this!
I have problems with this too. For my first half marathon, I started off doing dieting + training and lost about 8 pounds... but after I got up to the 7+ mile runs I was just so hungry all the time that I couldn't maintain the dieting, and ended up gaining 5 lbs back. I also discovered that my runs are much better when I supplement with gatorade or gels (again for longer distances) - but it's bad because then I'm not netting calorie loss from training. Last year (second half marathon) it was really hot and I really struggled with my speed, so I kept relying on gatorade to keep me going. I didn't lose any weight at all during training.
This year I would like to be more dedicated to serious speed workouts, which should help me get faster and also are supposed to be good for losing weight as mentioned above. Also I think I need to focus on eating more protein to avoid the hunger problem. I have issues with protein because I don't like meat that much... need to figure something out.
I love running, but I'm so slow because of all the extra weight I'm carrying. I don't think I'll be able to do a marathon without losing some serious weight and increasing my speed because otherwise I'm looking at 6-6.5 hours of solid running, which just seems like too much.
Good luck with your weight loss! I'm sure as you get back in to training it will help you shed the pounds in a reasonable amount of time.
Last year I lost about 10 pounds in about four and a half months. I used an iPhone app called "Lose It" which helped me track my calories. The app was pretty cool because it also allowed me to include the calories I burned when I exercised. When you start you enter in the your current weight and your goal weight and the app tells you how many calories you can eat a day to lose a pound a week (or more if you choose) and how long it will take you to reach your goal. You have to be really good about tracking your intake, but it absolutely works and I trained (and ran) a half marathon during that time and few other races as well.
I think you definitely need to make sure to focus on eating the right foods to fuel your workouts, first proteins and carbs, and then everything else. I imagine portion control is also very important.... but given that you are already big into Weight Watchers I'm sure that you are pretty good at portion control already. Cutting alcohol also really helps.
I also have to say that mixing up your workouts a bit helps burn more calories... try some hills (I do mine on the treadmill), some tempos runs and some intervals.
Hope this helps!
I love steamed greens!!! They are such a low cal super nutrient rich way of filling you up! Add a little Earth Balance and balsamic-so good!
just out of curiousity what's your hieght? and do those 10 pounds make a huge difference? is 140 your natural body weight?
I ask because I run my first marathon EVER this month (eeeekkk, excited and scared) and I'm pretty sure i'm at my 'natural' weight 5'8.5 &138. I'd like to get down to 128 but I know that's an unnatural weight for me/not my set point so I was going to wait until after this marathon to lost it (through HIIT training, and a diet that isn't so carb centric!). I'm curious if I lose the weight and then start training again if it'll make that big of a difference in time.
~ H
I am 5'6", and between 130 is my good racing weight, meaning I can run well, without feeling encumbered by extra weight - that's a size 4 for me. An extra 10 pounds does make a big difference in terms of both speed and how I feel while running, at least for me! My first marathon was just to finish - now I have a time goal, so speed is important.